PRI leader says constitution should not be barrier to energy reform in Mexico

Constitutional reforms should not be a barrier to an overhaul of Mexico's energy industry, Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, chairman Cesar Camacho said.

The Mexican Constitution is not the "Holy Shroud," Camacho told foreign correspondents on Wednesday.

"The constitution should be at the service of Mexicans, and Mexicans should not have to be at the service of the constitution," the PRI chairman said.

The idea that "the constitution is untouchable" should not become "legal dogma," Camacho said.

"It depends on how far we are willing to have energy reforms go," the PRI chairman said.

Mexico's political leaders are expected to start looking at energy industry reforms in the next few weeks, with the focus on the future of state-owned oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, and whether to allow private investment in the petroleum industry.

"It's clear that Pemex, a company we Mexicans are proud of, is not experiencing its best times, it needs major surgery," Camacho said.

The idea is to make Pemex "a world class company" and that requires resources "that the federal government does not have" for oil exploration, the PRI chairman said.

The Mexican left opposes Pemex's privatization and President Enrique Peña Nieto, a member of the PRI, has repeatedly denied that such a move was on the table.

Peña Nieto told the Financial Times in an interview last month that constitutional changes would be part of the energy reforms that his administration hopes will come out of Congress. EFE